News in Indian Country
Grade 8
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
News in Indian Country
Overview
This lesson explores the concept of survivance in
contemporary Native American culture, particularly
as it relates to the nine federally recognized tribes
of Oregon. The term survivance is unfamiliar to
many people, but in recent decades it has become
an important way of talking about how Indigenous
people express and carry forward their cultural
identities and traditions in contemporary life.
Acts of survivance are those that demonstrate
the ongoing and dynamic presence of Indige-
nous people in contemporary times. These acts
of sovereignty and self-determination can take
many forms, including tribal eorts to revitalize
a language or open a new business; a Native stu-
dent winning a scholarship or achieving public
recognition; or a cross-tribal group advocating
for land, treaty, or shing rights.
News media outlets, in a variety of forms, are one
of the ways the nine federally recognized tribes in
Oregon attempt to both inform and communicate
with tribal members and the general public about
current events and tribal participation in local,
state, and national events. Each of the nine tribal
nations in Oregon produces its own unique news
outlet that is available to all tribal members. Many
of these are also available to the general public.
ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS
• Sovereignty
• Identity
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Students will become familiar with
the news media outlets of the nine
federally recognized tribes in Oregon.
• Students will use tribal news media
outlets to examine acts of survivance
as demonstrated by contemporary
Native Americans in Oregon.
• Students will gain an understanding
of how to identify key elements of
a newspaper article or newsletter
(e.g., headline, byline, lead).
• Students will learn to summarize news-
paper/newsletter articles using the 5Ws.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
• How do tribal newspapers inform
tribal members and other Oregon
residents about current events in
Native American life?
LOGISTICS
• Where does the activity take place?
Classroom
• How are the students organized?
Whole class Teams: 3 – 5
Pairs Individually
TIME REQUIRED
2 hours
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
News in Indian Country 2
The purpose of this lesson is to provide students
with the opportunity to identify examples of sur-
vivance in action—through the reading analysis of
tribal news outlets.
Background for teachers
Familiarize yourself with topics raised in tribal
newspapers.
Considerations for teachers
Assessment
• Students will engage in a substantial
amount of discussion with partners
and groups. The teacher should actively
monitor student discussion for correct
understanding and should intervene
when there are misconceptions or bias.
• Students will complete an exit ticket
that will allow the teacher to assess
their understanding.
Practices
• Chalk talk – Chalk talk is a discussion tech-
nique in which the teacher writes prompts on
a series of posters and then students rotate
from poster to poster, writing their thoughts,
questions, reections, and responses to
the main prompt and/or to other students’
responses. Chalk talk provides exibility for
students to respond to ideas and concepts
over time. Students do not have to write their
name on any of their responses or ques-
tions, which encourages honesty and helps
STANDARDS
Oregon social studies standards
8.9 – Analyze the eect of historical and con-
temporary means of changing societies, and
promoting the common good.
8.14 – Investigate how economic decisions aect
the well-being of individuals within a group (such
as enslaved people, indigenous peoples, women,
and children), businesses, and society
8.24 – Examine the cause and eect of social,
political, and economic factors that motivated
westward expansion, invasion of indigenous
peoples, institutions, and the resulting impacts.
8.27 – Determine and explain the importance
and contributions (products, events, actions,
and ideas) of key people, cultures, ethnic groups
(including individuals who are American Indian/
Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or Americans of
African, Asian, Pacic Island, Chicano, Latino, or
Middle Eastern descent), religious groups, and
other traditionally marginalized groups (women,
people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees,
and individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender) in Oregon, the United States, and
the world.
8.28 – Identify issues related to historical events
to recognize the power, authority, and gover-
nance as it relates to systemic oppression and its
impact on ethnic and religious groups, as well as
other historically persecuted individuals in the
United States in the modern era (bias, injustice,
discrimination, and stereotypes).
(Continued on next page)
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
News in Indian Country 3
students or the teacher identify and clarify
misconceptions without having to publicly
confront an individual. The prompt on each
poster should be open-ended and should
encourage students to read, react, and add to
each other’s responses or questions. Students
should not talk while they are reading and
responding, but they may begin to identify
themes, make connections, or note surprising
responses from their fellow students. Chalk
talk posters should be used multiple times
throughout a lesson or unit to document
growth in students’ thinking and learning.
• Teachers should model notetaking for students
Learning targets
Targets depend on which activities are chosen.
• I am familiar with the news media outlets of
the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon.
• I can identify key elements (e.g., headline, lead,
byline) of a print or online news article.
• I can evaluate articles, press releases, or news-
letters from the nine federally recognized
tribes in Oregon for examples of survivance.
• I can identify the 5Ws and supporting details
of a news article.
MATERIALS
What materials are needed for students to
engage in this activity?
• Coquille Indian Tribe – K’wen ‘inish-ha or
http://www.coquilletribe.org/?cat=4 or the
Sea-Ha Runner – http://www.coquilletribe.
org/?page_id=1693
• Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua
and Siuslaw Indians – Voice of CTCLUSI –
https://ctclusi.org/communications
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs –
Spilyay Tymoo/Coyote News –
http://wsnews.org/
• Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians –
Siletz News – http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=NEEsErtdG54
(Continued on next page)
STANDARDS (Continued)
Oregon English language arts standards
Informational Text
RI.8.1 – Analyze what the text says explicitly as
well as inferentially; cite the textual evidence that
most strongly supports the analysis.
RI.8.2 – Determine a theme or central idea of
a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to the
characters, setting, and plot; provide an evi-
dence-based summary of the text
RI.8.5 – Compare and contrast the structure of
two or more texts and analyze how the diering
structure of each text contributes to its meaning
and style.
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
News in Indian Country 4
Options/extensions
• Encourage students to spend time researching
Native-owned and operated news outlets:
• Indian Country Today –
http://www.indiancountry.com/
• News from Indian Country –
https://www.indiancountrynews.com/
• Indianz.com – http://www.indianz.com/
• Native American Times –
http://www.nativetimes.com/
• The Circle News – http://thecirclenews.org/
• Native News Network –
http://nativenewsonline.net/
Reection/closure
• Review the learning targets.
• Discuss with students what they believe they
have learned.
• Have students think-pair-share about questions
they might have based on their learning and
that they might want to explore as part of their
culminating project. Prompt for two or more
questions from each group, and then let a few
groups share their ideas with the whole class.
MATERIALS (Continued)
What materials are needed for students to
engage in this activity?
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation – Confederated Umatilla Journal
http://ctuir.org/tribal-services/communica-
tions/confederated-umatilla-journal-cuj
• Klamath Tribes – Klamath News –
http://klamathtribes.org/news/news/
• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde –
Smoke Signals – http://www.grandronde.
org/news/smoke-signals/
• Burns Paiute Tribe – TU’ KWA HONE News-
letter – https://www.burnspaiute-nsn.gov/
index.php/news-letter
• Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of
Indians – Wik’uuyam Heeta’ – http://www.
cowcreek.com/wordpress/wp-content/
uploads/2016/01/8x10-November-Newslet-
ter-web.pdf
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
News in Indian Country 5
Appendix
5Ws and Survivance Worksheet
Map Exit Ticket
VOCABULARY
Survivance – The active presence of Native
American people, culture, and traditions in
contemporary life; a refusal to be seen as mere
victims or survivors or as a vanished people of the
past. “Native survivance stories are renunciations
of dominance, tragedy and victimry.”
1
Banner – A prominent headline on the front
page (or homepage) of a newspaper, usually
stretching across the full width of the page
or screen.
Byline – The name of the person or people who
wrote the story.
Caption or cutline – The text beneath a photo-
graph that explains who is in the photo, provides
any necessary context, and gives credit to
the photographer.
Headline – The title given to a news story.
Lead – The rst few sentences or opening
paragraph of a news story, which usually includes
an interesting detail, anecdote, or quote that
attempts to peak the reader’s interest and pull
them into the story.
1
Vizenor, G. (1999). Manifest manners: Narratives on postindian survivance. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. p. vii.
News in Indian Country 6
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Activity 1
What is survivance?
Time: 30 minutes
This activity introduces students to the concept of survivance through teacher
presentation, video examples, and student interaction.
Step 1:
Introduce slide 1 to the class.
Say:
Survivance is a powerful term. It derives from the word survival, but with the
addition of the –ance sux. That sux is meaningful because it makes the noun
active. It gives the word a sense of intention and purpose. The eect is that it
emphasizes self-determination: The determination to ght for one’s own identity,
culture, and traditions. Survivance is about Native people refusing to be seen as
tragic victims or as a vanished people of the past. It is about taking control of their
own story and how it is told.
Step 2:
Ask students if they can think of any other words that end with the ‘ance’
sux. Discuss as a whole class.
Say:
As you have been learning, Native people have endured a tremendous amount of
violence, disease, dislocation, starvation, oppression, and suering since the time
of their rst contact with Euro-American settlers. Their ancestral territories have
been stolen, their traditional cultures and languages have been suppressed, and
the U.S. government has repeatedly failed to meet its treaty obligations.
Native people have also been misrepresented in the media and in popular cul-
ture, aspects of their traditional culture have been stolen and misrepresented by
non-Native people, and they have often been left out of history books or been
misrepresented there as well. For example, many textbooks have incorrect in-
formation, such as “Native tribes died out,” which we know is not true. The tribal
News in Indian Country 7
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
nations in Oregon did not die out. They survived and endured and carried on. And
this survival was not passive. They survived by continually ghting to maintain
their way of living, culture, identity, language, and relationship with the land. This
is what we mean by survivance.
There are many acts of Native survivance going on in our state every day. Right
now, we’re going to watch a video describing an example of survivance from the
Siletz Tribe. Listen carefully, as we will have a whole-class discussion afterward.
Step 3:
Show video CTSI Indians language revitalization (Start to minute 2:45)
Step 4:
Show slide 2 and explain the Chalk Talk directions to students.
Step 5:
On large chart or butcher paper, write the three prompts (one on each piece
of paper).
Prompt 1: Think about the denition of tribal survivance. How does the
preservation of language support tribal survivance? Imagine if communi-
ties did not focus on this? Imagine if the entire state did.
Prompt 2: Why is language important to the preservation of Native culture?
How does it add to tribal identity and strength?
Prompt 3: How is the Siletz language being revived? What specic acts or
eorts support this movement? What if the language is not revived?
Activity 1 (Continued)
News in Indian Country 8
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Step 6:
Allow students to interact with the prompts and with their classmates’ re-
sponses. After 15 to 20 minutes of written interaction, have students observe
the responses on each poster and note common themes, questions, or details.
Ask students to identify which poster prompted the most written discussion.
The posters should be left up in the classroom throughout the remainder of
the lesson.
Optional Extension Activity: Teachers may choose to have students write in
their journals about a theme or question that arose during the chalk talk activ-
ity. For example, students could reect on the connection between language
preservation and survivance. Teachers could also have students identify ques-
tions they would like to explore about the concept of survivance.
Activity 1 (Continued)
News in Indian Country 9
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Activity 2
Read all about it!
Time: 45 minutes
Preparation: Review tribal news outlets for stories related to the concept of
survivance. Photocopy some of articles in advance so you have extras, and
then cut out ve headlines. Next, cut out the rst two paragraphs/sections
from those same articles. Paste the headlines on one side of a poster board
and on the other side (out of order) paste the article sections. Next, cut out 20
to 30 more headlines and set them aside. If you only have 10 or so headlines,
then photocopy them so you have a class set.
Step 1:
Show slide 3. Introduce students to the elements of a news article (or provide
a review, if they are already familiar with the terms). Review the vocabulary.
Ask some of the following questions:
• What is a headline? A headline is a title given to a news story.
• What is the purpose of a headline? A headline is used to catch the reader’s
attention and to give the reader some idea of the topic of the story/article.
Say:
Tribal nations in Oregon participate in many forms of survivance. Acts of surviv-
ance are as diverse as they are powerful. Let’s look at some examples from the
headlines of tribal news outlets here in Oregon.
Step 2:
Show slide 4 with the following examples of headlines from Oregon Tribal
news outlets:
Native American Tribes Gaining Recognition for Timber and
Forestry Practices
https://www.klcc.org/post/native-american-tribes-gaining-recognition-tim-
ber-and-forestry-practices
News in Indian Country 10
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Fish and Wildlife Students Learn Traditional Ecological Knowledge
on the Siuslaw
https://ctclusi.org/assets/5cc72b7c8b2e97245875fcf5.pdf
Governor, Oregon members of Congress arm treaty right to healthcare
http://ctuir.org/communications/governor-oregon-members-congress-af-
rm-treaty-right-healthcare
Say:
These three headlines introduce news reports about examples of contemporary
acts of survivance. The rst article explores how the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians are managing their ancestors’ territory so that tribal members
can interact with the land as they have since time immemorial. The second article
is a news report from the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw
Indians, and it describes tribal eorts to teach young people how to navigate the
Siuslaw River and how to actively care for the Tribe’s ancestral territory by remov-
ing invasive species and planting western red cedar trees. The third article is a press
release from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which ex-
presses the Tribe’s opposition to eorts that would alter how healthcare is provided
to Native Americans. The Tribe expresses its desire to maintain tribal sovereignty
and the right to manage a healthy and vibrant community.
Step 3:
Do not have students read the full story at this point. First, ask students
to match each headline to the story they think it belongs to. Ask students
to make their best guess.
Step 4:
Next, ask students the following question and have a brief whole-
class discussion.
Activity 2 (Continued)
News in Indian Country 11
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Say:
What sentences or phrases helped you match the headlines to the appropriate
articles? Why?
Step 5:
Pass out one headline to each student.
Step 6:
Have students write a one-paragraph story to accompany the headline.
Step 7:
Next, have students read the actual story associated with their headline.
Note: Students can read independently or with a partner depending on the
number of articles provided to the class.
Step 8:
Discuss
Activity 2 (Continued)
News in Indian Country 12
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Activity 3
The 5Ws
Time: 45 minutes
Introduce students to the 5Ws in a story: who, what, when, where, and why.
Use a sample story as an example.
This activity can be done in pairs or individually.
Step 1:
Hand out the 5Ws and Survivance worksheet along with a newspaper or
newsletter article to each student.
Step 2:
Tell students to mark up their article as they read it. They can underline, high-
light, or label their article as they see t.
Step 3:
Discuss with students
What new information about survivance did you learn?
Can you tell what the author wants the reader to know?
Step 4:
Have students complete the worksheet and turn in both the article and the
worksheet when they are done.
Extension activity: Have students write an imaginary follow-up story to one
of the news articles/reports. Make sure it addresses the 5Ws.
News in Indian Country 13
News in Indian Country
Grade 8
Activity 4
Wrap up the lesson
Time: 5 minutes
Step 1:
Provide students with a map of Oregon that shows the territory of the nine
federally recognized tribes in the state.
Step 2:
Ask students to complete the following as an exit ticket:
1. Circle the nation their news article/event/ad came from
2. Draw a line from that nation to their town
